1. Field of the Invention
Generally, the field of the present invention is high power laser systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to high power laser systems with high accuracy requirements.
2. Background
Advances in semiconductor lasers permit manufacturers to offer increasingly higher laser powers at a variety of wavelengths for a wide variety of applications. Typical applications of semiconductor lasers include materials processing, communications systems, medical devices, lighting, and analytical instrumentation. In many applications, to provide even higher optical powers, outputs from multiple devices are combined using combinations of lenses, mirrors, bulk beamsplitters, and fused fiber couplers. In many cases, laser beams produced by semiconductor lasers are not circular but elliptical, and typically have differing beam waists based on the elongated shape of the laser emission area.
Some applications impose difficult requirements on beam uniformity and delivery. While considerable effort has been directed to combining laser outputs to produce uniform beams that are accurately delivered, the available systems nevertheless continue to exhibit some significant limitations. Thus, despite the considerable efforts that have been exerted for many years, there remains a need for laser systems that provide high power and highly accurate optical beams for various applications.